Outbound call

An outbound call is one the business places, as opposed to the inbound calls it receives. It covers very different uses: calling back a client who couldn't reach you, confirming an appointment, following up on a quote, or cold-calling prospects. The first two are expected and well received; the last is the most heavily regulated by law.

The legal asymmetry is worth knowing: answering an inbound call raises no compliance issue, while automated outbound calling — and a fortiori robocalls — is strictly regulated by the TCPA in the US and consumer law in France (permitted hours, identification, opt-out). A tradesperson manually calling back a client who contacted them faces none of these issues; it's cold automation that triggers them.